Chippendale and His School Book

Text extracted from opening pages of book: MAHOGANY BEDSTEAD ( EIGHTEENTH CENTURY). LITTLE BOOKS ABOUT' OLD' FURNITURE ENGLISH FURNITURf/ - -.; VOLUME. Ill CHIPPENDALE AND HIS SCHOOL BY J. P. BLAKE ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY Printed in Great Britain INTRODUCTION THE name o Chippendale is so generally applied to mahogany furniture that it might seem, on a first inquiry, that he invented this rich and interesting wood, and also every style pertaining to it. Mahogany furniture, antique and other wise, is so often airily described as Chippendale that the term has lost much of its personal significance and become simply generic. The present volume deals with the period in the commencement of which mahogany was first employed in England in the manufacture of furniture approximately in the first quarter of the eighteenth century ( after the death of Queen Anne). For approaching two hundred years, therefore, it has sustained its popularity, and its position is still unchallenged. Certainly in the nineteenth century metal was very generally used in the mating of bedsteads, but in these later days mahogany is again frequently employed for this purpose. A very large quantity of genuine old mahogany furniture has survived to this day, and it is often described in general terms as Chippendale. The number of chairs alone seriously and deliberately described as Chippendale is almost innumerable. vi INTRODUCTION It is needless to remark that this great man did not construct all these chairs. Chippendale was even more an influence rather than an actual producer, and the number of pieces of furniture which, with any approach to authenticity, can be ascribed to his hand could almost be counted on the fingers. The genius of Chippendale lay in the fact that he gathered ideas from many styles the Dutch, French, Chinese, and Gothic and gave them practical expression and commercial practicability. i^ No doubt he was a great craftsman, a superb carver, and an accomplished cabinet-maker ; but he was more than all this : he was a supreme influ ence, a virile spirit, an inspiration which is with us in our household surroundings to this day. It is sometimes objected that his ideas arc not original ; but the answer is that Chippendale was in business as a furniture-maker, and in his appli cation of varied ideas to his work he collected his forms from every available source. He took the Dutch designs which he found to his hand and grafted on to them every style he could come upon from France he took the riband-back chair ; from China he took the whole of the forms of a complete phase of his work : for another he took the forms of Gothic architec ture. Nothing came amiss to him. In the present volume many simple pieces arc INTRODUCTION vii illustrated and described which, although cer tainly not the work of Chippendale, are none the less, for their form and being, assuredly attributable to his influence. Such pieces are neither expensive nor very difficult to acquire, and should certainly find a place in any collection, however modest. They are for the most part beautifully made from old wood in a condition as regards figuring and marking which at this day it is almost impossible to duplicate. Whenever possible it has been considered useful to add a rough and approximate price at which they might be purchasable. For permission to reproduce various pieces I am again indebted to the authorities at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is, however, to be greatly regretted that the National Collection of the furniture of the period under review is so inadequate both as regards the examples and their arrangement ; and it is to be hoped that ( before it is too late) some active means may be taken to aug ment it by a State grant or by the encouragement of private contributions. Also I have to thank Mr. C. J. Charles, of Brook Street, W., and Mr. Edward, of King Street, St. James's, for permission to reproduce several of their fine pieces ; and toRead More